(The following articles are from the May 1-15, 2008, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

By Dave McKee

Over 500 delegates and participants, representing 124 organizations in 76 countries, converged in Caracas, Venezuela for the Assembly of the World Peace Council, held from April 7-13. The Assembly was hosted by Venezuela's Comite de Solidaridad Internacional (COSI) with the full support and endorsement of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Caracas itself was declared the World Capital of Peace and Anti-Imperialist Struggle.

     Since the last World Peace Assembly, held in Athens in 2004, US imperialism has intensified its strategy of imposing and consolidating its new world order of economic domination, oppression and war. This has led to sharpening rivalries with other imperialist centres, most notably in Europe. But it has also been met with increased resistance, especially in the Middle East and Latin America, which create more and more obstacles for imperialism.

     The Assembly reiterated its call for an immediate withdrawal of imperialist forces from Iraq and Afghanistan, and voiced its opposition to war on Iran and Syria. It declared its solidarity with struggles for peace and liberation around the world, including those in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Western Sahara, Cuba, Colombia and Venezuela.

     Delegates discussed the global decline in living standards and political strength of the working class, and the importance of confronting this decline as an integral component of the struggle for peace. Orlando Fundora, outgoing World Peace Council President, summed up this relation with his call: "Disarmament for Development, Development for Peace!"

     The Assembly deliberated on many other issues, including militarization of international relations and NATO expansion, imperialism's use of the "Kosovo model" to divide and rule countries and regions around the world, nuclear arms reduction, and the global struggle against foreign military bases.  

     Sean Currie, a Canadian Peace Congress delegate to the Assembly, participated in a panel discussion on Defending People's Rights. He discussed the deepening process of trade integration of the NAFTA countries and the related transformation of Canada's economy into a wholesale exporter of natural resources, especially oil. He used this as a departure point for an analysis of the increasing political and military integration of Canada and the US, and related that process to the loss of economic strength, political voice and living conditions among the Canadian working class. "Peace is the central question for the working class today," he said. "Labour will lead the way in this struggle, as workers confront this issue in all areas of the world."

     The Assembly finished by electing a new 40-member Executive Committee to coordinate work over the next four years. Brazil's Socorro Gomes (CEBRAPAZ) was elected President, with outgoing President Orlando Fundora being given the title of Honourary President. Greece's Athanasios Pafilis and Iraklis Tsavdaridis (both from EEDYE) were re-elected General-Secretary and Executive-Secretary respectively.

     The Canadian Peace Congress, this country's WPC affiliate, was represented by a six-person delegation. The Congress is rebuilding across Canada and delegates agreed that the Assembly helped provide the energy and political vision necessary to advance their work.  Report-back tours are being organized in several locations around the country.  

     People's Voice readers can find more information about the World Peace Council and the Canadian Peace Congress, including the Final Declaration of the World Peace Assembly, on the internet at http://www.wpc-in.org and http://www.canadianpeacecongress.ca.

     (Toronto peace activist Dave McKee was a delegate to the World Peace Assembly.)